Choices of Care or Vengeance
by Flaegor
Summary: Sirius Black arrived at the Potter household and left before Hagrid arrived, taking baby Harry to Dumbledore instead of chasing down Pettigrew turns out to be one of the best decisions he has made, for both himself and Harry. ConfidentSmart!Harry. Pure HHr


The distinctive sound of apparition shattered the silence around the destroyed Potter family house. Sirius took a shuddering breath and entered through the crooked door frame. He immediately saw the face of his best friend starring sightlessly up at him from his position on the floor. Sirius knew that he would see the sight before him as soon as the the ward monitor's had gone down, but that didn't make the moment any less painful, he dropped to his knees as guilt tore through his body. He had handled death before, he had seen his own fiancée shot by a killing curse right in front of him, but this situation was different.

Sirius didn't know what to feel, he knew everyone fighting, or even those not fighting were in constant danger, including Cassie. When he had seen her murdered, he was wrecked by sadness; it had taken months to even bring himself to talk again, and he know that he would forever have a gaping hole in his life that Cassie was meant to fill. However, right know, he didn't know what to feel or why, was he supposed to feel guild, sadness, anger, hopelessness, acceptance, or despair? A mix of the all?

He rose slowly, knowing that James would have attempted to hold Voldemort off so Lily and Harry could escape, so maybe they had escaped using their organised escape plan. He ran up the stairs three at a time, just as he was about to reach the top, he saw another dreaded sight, an arm, a woman's arm, Lily's arm, detached from all other body parts and lying on the top stair.

Sirius felt the night breeze go through his hair as it floated through the missing roof. The world seemed to dim to Sirius, he had lost two of his closest friends in the space of a few hours, his mind drifted back to the afternoon, when he had stayed with the Potter for dinner, all laughing happily as Lily's tried to persuade Harry into eating his food while James gloated about knowing something that Sirius did not, Sirius suspected mournfully that he would never find out.

'_Harry_'. The toddler's name bounced through his head and he found himself hoping against hope that the youngest Potter had survived. As though the world took pity on Sirius in that moment, he heard the most relieving sound he could have hoped to hear, a babies cry. Sirius tore up the last few steps and opened the door to the nursery, holding back his tears at the sight of Lily's body, mangled from the explosion that had torn upper level of the house apart. Carefully stepping over her, he rushed to pick up Harry from his cot, barely noticing the scar on his forehead of the pile of black robes on the floor in relief.

Without waiting to investigate, he prepared to apparate away, but he lost his concentration as he saw what was next to little Harry's cot. Sirius's blood went stone-cold. _'Another cot'_ Sirius threw up, and started letting lose on the tears that had been building up. He thought back to the evening and James's buoyant behaviour, Lily had been pregnant. The thought shattered him for the third time that night.

Sirius shifted, "Peter will pay." he growled, scarring even himself as thoughts of murder vibrated through his head. He looked down at the small, crying bundle of blankets in his arms. The thoughts disappeared as he, as Lily had phrased it, "got his priorities damn well straight".

He steadied himself and disapparated away from the Potter homestead. Hagrid arrived at precisely the same time, Hagrid stumbling after his portkey had dumped him hear the crack and rushed into the household, only to find the two dead bodies, a bundle of robes and two empty cots, with tears of grief, he activated one of the last two portkey that he held, returning him to the gates of Hogwarts, the sobbing half-giant trudged his way up to the headmasters office to bring him the horrible news.

"Choc'ate frogs." he whispered to the statue, it gave his muddy boots a disapproving look before moving to the side and allowing him to ascend up the spiral staircase. He opened the door and was met with the sight of Dumbledore consulting a shaking Sirius who was clutching a small bundle of blankets like it was his life-line. The two men looked at the half-giant, who only had eye's for the small bundle in Sirius's arms. "Is tha'..." He was almost to scared to ask. Sirius nodded sadly and parted to blankets to reveal a babies face.

Hagrid sobbed again, half in relief. Dumbledore looked almost unshaken by the events before him as he shook Sirius's shoulder gently. "Sirius, please," he said, "Do you have any idea how Harry here survived and what happened to Voldemort?" Sirius shook his head not looking at the headmaster. Dumbledore looked up and meet Hagrid's eyes, silently asking him the same question. Hagrid shuddered out, "I foun' this." He said, holding up the pile of slightly smoking robes. The old man gestured and took the robes Hagrid handed to him. The two men watched as Dumbledore waved his wand over the pile, his frown increasing steadily. "Incredible." he murmured. "It seems..." the old man started, "that Lord Voldemort has been defeated by young Mister Potter here."

Sirius arrived in muggle Sydney via portkey that very night carrying a single trunk and Harry strapped to his chest sleeping soundlessly. Sirius pushed his spare hand through his hair, so much had happened that night. Two of his best friends had been murdered, along with their unborn baby, the most feared dark lord in British history had been vanquished, according to one of the greatest light wizards of all time, said dark lord could well return, and finally he had been given the responsibly to raise his godson away from England.

He vaguely figured his way out of Sydney and into the country-side just as the Australian sun started to rise. He arrived at the Black family vacation house not long after still in a dazed state. It was a simple house, situated on the side of a mountain overlooking the coast line, two stories, on the first floor was the kitchen, living room and dining room, all connected and one entire wall was glass, providing for a great view across the ocean. The second floor had three bedrooms, each with a bathroom, toilet and balcony attached. Sirius started to prepare the house for the next 10 or so years it would be lived in.

The next few years passed stupidly quickly for Sirius, he mostly stayed in the house working on creating new spells, taking care of Harry, and keeping in contact with his British friends. His public figure had never been worse, Peter had escaped capture, and the majority of magical England thought that it was him that had been behind the murder of the Potters, he was outraged, and only Dumbledore entering his house through his fireplace had stopped him from returning to England and demanding a trial.

Dumbledore had made the point that his public persona was bad enough that they could refuse him a trial and he had to take care of Harry, and Sirius knew he could not do that if he was in Azkaban. He made Dumbledore promise to do his best to get Sirius a trial but said old man was skeptical. Harry grew up to recognize Sirius as a father figure, but never actually called him so, as both of them preferred Harry to call Sirius 'Uncle'.

Sirius raised Harry on stories of his father and his adventures, and needless to say, Harry wanted to be almost exactly like his father. When he had brought this up with Sirius, Sirius had drastically increased his stories of Lily's achievements. Harry, being the bright child that he was, brought this up with Sirius, who sat 6 year old Harry down and explained that while his father had been a great guy, he had been a bit of a bully when at Hogwarts and Sirius wanted Harry to avoid that aspect of his father's personality, and he had told Harry just that.

After that, Harry had begun to ask more and more about his mother, which had him asking about the muggle way of live, in response, Sirius investigated and started introducing more and more muggle features into their lives. More and more years slipped through Sirius's fingers, until Harry's 11th birthday approached.

Harry had grown into a joking but kind, reckless but knowledgeable, and confident but humble boy, and in Sirius's eyes, and the eyes of most girls at his school, was absolutely perfect. He hadn't lost all his baby fat yet but he was just about out of the 'cute' stage and almost into the 'handsome' stage. The night before his 11th birthday, Harry had brought up the topic of his Hogwarts letter, and Sirius had the sudden urge to slam his hand into his own face. "Harry, I forgot to tell you, you won't be getting a letter from Hogwarts." Harry's eyes widened with a horrified look in them, and Sirius wanted to face palm again. "Nononono, I didn't mean it like that." Sirius said haste-fully. "I meant, that we, Dumbledore and I, thought, it, well, might not be best for you to return to England just yet."

Sirius flinched, still not liking the way it sounded. Harry started to smile, "You're having me on again aren't you. Almost got me there." Harry started to laugh. "Harry," Sirius said slowly, getting Harry attention lighting fast, "Listen carefully, just after you were born, a prophecy was made, it said that... Actually it might be easier if I just showed you."

Sirius left the dining room where they were sitting and walked into the living room, he grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the mantelpiece and through it into the fire, calling, "Headmaster's office, Hogwarts." and shoving his head into the fire. Harry waited impatiently for a few minutes while his uncle had his head shoved in the fire and was just considering getting a bucket of water for a little prank to lighten the mood, when Sirius crawled backwards and stood up, giving Harry a slightly suspicion look, which Harry shrugged off.

Another minute of awkward silence later, Dumbledore gracefully stumbled out of the fireplace, holding a ceramic basin filled with a strange silver substance. Harry craned his neck to get a look but he didn't need to. Dumbledore conjured a table and looked at Harry over his glasses. "How are you Harry?" he asked kindly, "I'm fine, Gramps..." Harry replied with a cheeky grin.

Sirius laughed and clapped him on the back proudly while Dumbledore just looked amused. "Pleasantries out of the way, have you ever heard of a pensieve Harry?" Harry shook his head, and Dumbledore granted an explanation. "This here is a pensieve, it is used to sieve, or sort, through memories. So I can do this." The old man put his want to his temple and pulled it back slowly, pulling a silver strand with it. Harry watched in fascination as the headmaster flicked his wand and the strand fell into the ceramic basin.

Harry watched as Sirius dipped his face into the basin and disappeared, and Dumbledore gestured for Harry to do the same, which he did. Harry felt himself get pulled into the basin and started falling. Flailing around, his fall came to a halt suddenly and he found himself in what he suspected was the Hogwarts great hall. It was the oddest experience Harry had ever had, watching a bunch of school kids eat without them being able to see him.

A minute later, he felt someone grab his shoulders, making him jump a good half-meter into the air. Sirius stood behind him, laughing loudly, while Harry scowled with as much intimidation as an 10 year old could, but he eventually succumbed to the laughter as well. "Ok, time for us to go. Just think of a door, and open it with the intention to leave." Sirius commanded. Harry did so and he found himself back standing in the living room. Sirius popped out of nowhere not long after. Dumbledore looked at the two of them, "That was my memory of breakfast a few months ago, I recall having sausages and waffles."

Harry looked slightly sick, but Dumbledore waved it off. "Down to business." Dumbledore pulled another silver strand from his temple and placed it into the basin, and all three entered the memory. There was a white room, and a woman covered in scrawls and wearing huge glasses. Harry listened as the prophecy was told, the two adults watching him closely. The woman stopped speaking and Harry retreated from the memory, the two adults following not long after. Harry sat down on one of the couches.

"Ok..." Harry said slowly. "So Voldemort will always be after me, I get that, but why can't I go to Hogwarts since he is dead, even if he will eventually come back?" This question surprised Sirius, but if it surprised Dumbledore, the old man hid it well. Sirius was the one that replied, "Even if Voldemort is dead, some of his followers aren't and they could try to hurt you." Harry started to protest but Dumbledore got word in first, "That doesn't mean you never will, it just means that you will have to be trained to defend yourself before you attend." "Then why did no-one train me before now?" Harry questioned. Dumbledore sighed and answered, "It is illegal to own a wand before 11 years of age without special ministry permission, which I could not get." "Then what about wandless magic?" Harry retorted. Sirius stepped in, "Harry, don't be rude, I've told you that wandless magic is dangerous to learn."

Harry opened his mouth to say something again, but stopped himself. "Fine." He settled on saying. "C'mon Harry, you know we wouldn't let you stay any longer without magic than you needed to. I'm going to teach you!" Harry looked up, obviously excited, "Really?" he was practically bouncing at this point. Sirius nodded and Harry beamed. "I see I am no longer needed. It was pleasant seeing you again after all these years Harry, goodbye Sirius." Without another words, Dumbledore picked up the basin and strode into the fire, disappearing after saying, "Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts." And so, the next day, Sirius took Harry into magical Sydney to purchase a wand and other supplies, and 'misplaced' his muggle school enrollment form, while teasing Harry about 'the young girls he left that would never experience true love'. Harry was simply to excited to care.

**A/N **_I'm not someone to make huge Author Notes, however, although it seems obvious, due to copyright polices, I have to say that I don't own Harry Potter. Something funny, if JK Rowling was to write a fanfiction, she would have to put a disclaimer, as technically, the Harry Potter franchise belongs to the publisher (I think, tell me if I'm wrong)_


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